Winter Wrap Out Incident
“It’s f-ff-freezing out here,” Flitter said as she pondered her life’s choices, which had lead to this situation. The grayish-blue pegasus had never thought about spending so many winter mornings sitting on a cloud above Ponyville, surveying the weather and checking for possible disturbances in the atmosphere. All she did was kick a few clouds here, move a few clouds there, and generally spend way too much time with the cotton-like objects. It was very mundane, and she often found herself wishing that she was someplace else. Honestly, nothing interesting ever happened to her in this redundant aerial space.
Despite everything, there was a good side to the job. The mare loved to observe the snow fall down from above. It was quite a sight to see - water forming into thousands of snowflakes, gliding towards an unknown, faraway destination, hoping to reach a wondrous, fantastic land. Yet, as much as she loved the snow, Flitter did not welcome the accompanying cold. She rubbed her face with her hooves, hoping the friction would warm her up.
“Well, that’s one way, how to wake up,” she said with a sigh.
For Flitter, being an ordinary pegasus was just not enough. The mare wanted more from her life; one could say she craved for some spice in the generic mass of boredom. Nothing felt as bad as being one of the many, like one of the clouds, rarely ever seen as an individual with feelings and dreams.
Unbeknownst to her however, a life-changing encounter was waiting to turn everything upside-down.
A small brown speck in the distance caught her attention, slowly moving on a cloud. The movement was not random, instead, it was willful, as if trying to free itself from the cookie-cutter world of white around it - a small entity struggling for freedom, not giving up. Flitter decided to move closer to have a better look at it.
“It’s probably a bird, or something like that,” she thought as the distance between her and the dot gradually shrunk. She focused on the rhythmic, carefully noticing, how she was warming up from the exercise. Daily weather duty demanded her to be fit and healthy so the mare had to follow some fitness rules in case an inspector comes to pay a visit.
“Well, at least my flank won’t freeze to that cloud now,” Flitter said with a smile. She looked back up to the mystery speck, and as it started to gain shape, four hooves appeared.
“Oh, it’s another pegasus.....hold on.”
On closer examination, the pony didn’t seem to have any wings at all. Flitter rubbed her eyes with her hooves to make sure she was seeing right, which she apparently was. She saw a brown earth pony with an hourglass cutie mark that was trotting from one side of the cloud to the other, repeatedly looking down at the cloud below as if he were measuring something. It seemed that he had descended from aristocratic roots as the colt had an undeniable aura of elegance. Certainly would look good with a water pipe, bow tie and....heh....a fez. Either way, the stallion was now close enough so the pegasus mare could hear what he was saying.
“Well, this is just bonkers,” he observed. The accent was exotic, something Flitter had never heard before, but she gave it her best shot. Taking everything into consideration, she realized that she didn’t know how to start a conversation in this peculiar situation.
“Hello, over there, may I help you?”
“Help me? Oh, don’t worry your little pink head over this. You see - I always have a plan.”
“Uh-Huh,” she said skeptically, a bit surprised that the stranger had noticed her pink bow. Still, the mare couldn’t see what sort of plan he could possibly have if he were all the way up in the clouds. Belatedly, she realized that the stallion was probably waiting for some sort of response.
“What’s your name?” was the first thing that came to the mind.
“I am Doctor Whooves.”
“Doctor who?”
“It’s just the Doctor really.” He pulled out a screwdriver, which had a green glowing light on top of it, trying to find the correct angle towards a cloud below. That seemed to be a rather practical technique only somepony with wisdom could know of. However, Flitter had never seen such a tool before.
“What’s that?”
“Oh.....this?”
The stallion rolled it in his hooves, clearly trying to show off his skills.
“Yes....that...”
“It’s a tool of the trade. I never go anywhere without it.”
“What does it do?”
“Just about anything you can imagine!” he said smugly.
“I can’t.....it’s just a stick.”
“JUST A STICK? You call my SUPER SONIC SCREWDRIVER just a stick? It may be small, but it can do amazing feats! It’s full of modern technology, which is ready to burst out of it at any given moment!”
The stranger was offended. This “screwdriver” was really important to him as if it was tightly attached to the stallion. Why would he even call it the “Super Sonic Screwdriver”? It was like those affectionate names ponies tended to give inanimate objects....like Natasha.
“Yea? Like what? Can it strip wood?” Flitter tried to be friendly and stripping wood seemed to be just the thing it could do.
“Gah! Forget it!” Defeated, the stallion, retreated a few steps back so he wouldn’t have to hear all this hay about his screwdriver.
“Anyways, how did you get up here?”
“I zapped.”
“Zapped? Does that involve the “Super Sonic Screwdriver” in any way?” She chuckled....sometimes a good laugh was necessary to forget one’s worries.
“You are sooo.....whatever......it’s simple, just like lightning....but upwards,” he said, giving a somewhat random explanation.
Flitter, of course, had no idea what the brown stallion was talking about.
“How does that even work?” she asked.
“Imagine a carpet.”
“Okay.”
“No, forget it, that’s useless.”
The mare had noticed by this time that this so-called ‘doctor’ never seemed to finish one idea before moving on, and it was beginning to annoy her. She also took offense to his tendency to imply that she wasn’t as smart as him. Meanwhile, the time-turning pony continued on, oblivious to her feelings.
“It’s more like a broad one-way river. You get on the wave and it takes you somewhere. It’s quite fast, I must add.”
“Right,” Flitter wondered whether or not the stallion had a degree in physics. Some freaky formulae and a blackboard, full with technological explanations, even if they didn’t make much sense, would have worked a lot better.
The stranger put back the screwdriver with an expression of satisfaction on his face. Then he came close to the edge and looked down. Suddenly, he backed away, took a run and jumped, falling down....
….and down.
The pegasus acted on instinct, leaping off the edge and diving down after him. It only took her a few moments to catch up, and when she did, she reached her legs out to catch him. Unfortunately for Flitter, she was rather klutzy in some circumstances, so she ended up flying in the way of his fall rather than slowing his descent. The falling earth pony crashed into her in midair and they continued the fall in a ball of two ponies. Luckily, they landed on a soft cloud and rolled a few metres, not being able to tell up from down.
Something big and pleasantly warm was lying on Flitter as she tried to grasp the situation. Taking off the bow, which blocked the view, she saw steam ascend in the air. Unable to move, the pegasus felt a hoof brush against her shoulder and soon his face appeared with an innocent look on it.
“Blimey,” the Doctor said as another wave of air went up, “that was beyond reckless.”
Flitter’s face turned red from embarrassment.
“Could you...?”
“....Did all the calculations; I would have made it, ” he continued, worrying about safety matters.
“Who is the daring one here?” she thought, trying to squirm her way out of the tight situation.
“It’s all about the correct angle, quite basic stuff.....”
“Please, let go of me!”
“Pardon?” he was confused, “I am not holding you.”
“GET UP ALREADY!”
“Aaah, yes, of course,” he said, pushing himself up with his front legs. Flitter felt relieved as she was finally able to breathe properly, giving herself a moment to lie down and collect herself. But she had to get up, after all, she had the stallion to deal with.
As if nothing unusual had just taken place, The Doctor took out his screwdriver again and started the process of “angling”. He seemed to be able to get passionate about almost anything on the spot. Flitter needed some time to calm down, so she didn’t say anything as the stallion once again started moving around the cloud’s surface. All these happenings were bizarre. How often has she been on a cloud with a......stallion.....and....alone! And to top it off - he was an earth pony from who knows where. The mare sighed, and as her mind continued to wander, she noticed a flaw in her estranged friend’s plan.
“They don’t go all the way down; you will still be very high up, even after all the possible jumps.”
“WHAT? THAT’S ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!” he shouted, obviously astonished.
“I am a weather pony so I know these things.”
“THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING!”
“Calm down, will you? We will just have to.....” Flitter stopped as a sudden realization struck her. There were no other weather ponies around, consequently, only one possible solution to the unconventional situation at hoof.
“You....will have to...ride me,” she said blushing, “it’s the only way.”
“Say, what?”
“It would be ..... dangerous otherwise......to move a pony by hooves at least two pegasi are needed.” She was quite proud of herself, as she was clearly better at explaining things than he was. One didn’t need to have a degree to do so. Only a few words....and the deed is done.....just like that.
The Doctor glanced sideways, and seeing no other exit, he asked, “I see....well...if you don’t mind....may I?”
“Please.......be gentle,” Flitter answered as she lowered her body, settling it against the soft surface they both were on. He advanced carefully, considering how to properly engage in the “mounting” process. He started by elevating his right hind leg, then stopped and came round her flank, not wanting to rush, being delicate.
“Hurry up, will you?” Flitter didn’t know what to expect.
“Alrighty,” The Doctor said as he slid his leg over the mare’s rear. She felt his body shift on her to find the most comfortable position, and once he stopped moving, she lifted off into the air.
“Eeeep!” the mare squeaked, flinching as two hooves coiled round her throat.
“Sorry....don’t want to fall off,” the Doctor explained his abrupt movement.
“Yes.......of course.....Are you ready?” A considerable portion of air evaporated and flew upwards to the skies. Like the pioneers of flight, finally being able to get to places, which were closed off before.
“Aye. Let’s do this.”
Flitter lifted him in the air, feeling his breath on her cheek as he clenched her throat. Soon, after some flying forward, Flitter tried descending, the Doctor immediately began sliding towards her head.
“I c-can’t do this,” the pegasus said straightening out their course.
“Don’t worry, everything is going to be just fine.”
He pushed himself back in place. Another attempt only brought them a few feet closer to safety.
“This will tire me out before we can reach the ground!” Flitter panicked.
“Just go for it!”
“Are you crazy?”
She tried to look back at him, but that was fruitless. Only cold air swooshed at her face, not letting to look at him.
“I DON’T KNOW! MAYBE!” The Doctor didn’t deny the idea, “but there is no other choice, is there?”
“I guess you are right.”
Flitter breathed in deeply and once again started to dash downwards, this time at a much steeper angle. His body came dangerously close to falling, yet he held on tightly, not letting go.
Both the ponies could see the houses of Ponyville getting bigger. Soon they could clearly distinguish all the decorations - lights, hoof-made stars and spruce trees, heavy from all the candles, ornaments and baubles. All these wonders surrounded the two.
“Geronimo!” the Doctor cheered as they got closer to landing.
“Hold on!” She slowed down so they wouldn’t hit the ground.
“That is magnificent! You did it!”
Flitter felt relief to stand on early, white snow even if it was wet and frosty, possibly making her sick if no change of clothes were found.
“I am sure you had a good reason for it, but don’t get lost in the clouds ever again.”
“Can’t promise you that,” the stallion said in a cheerful tone.
“Uh, well, just do what you want, I guess.”
“I must say...” the Doctor paused,”....thank you....” he turned to leave.
“Wait!” their eyes met. “You never told me who you are.”
“Just the Doctor,” it came out as a sigh. He never let anypony know more than that.
“What kind of Doctor?” Flitter insisted to continue their conversation from before.
“Look....the things I do....they are not....”
“You can't just put me in such a situation and walk away like nothing happened!”
“I am sorry for all the trouble I have caused,” the stallion got lost in thought as he recollected his unpleasant memories, “you will never see me again,” saying that in a monotone voice, he started trotting away, isolating himself from the world around.
“Is that how it's gonna be? We could have died up there! At the very least tell me who you are!”
The Doctor stopped and looked back. “If you insist....I am the last Time Turner...It’s my job to keep all the clocks of Ponyville in sync.....Mayor Mare contacted me about it.....That is everything there is to it.”
“But...all of them?” Flitter gave it a thought, “That’s impossible.”
“Exactly.”
That was the last word she heard as the stallion had disappeared from her sight.
“Umm, don’t you need help?” the question filled the empty vastness, but didn’t reach anypony in particular.
Empty....once again....nopony to heed her.....not a single living being.
Ironically, as there is nothing more certain than death and taxes, Flitter was once again on duty, freezing to the core, cursing every aspect of the damned world.
“You may have to work overtime, it’s the busy season after all..... and everything!.... Don’t forget to clean your hooves...this and that...work hard!” she remembered her conversation with the department head.
“Bah! See if I care, it’s not like I got anything better to do....not now at least,” she said to nopony in particular, throwing away a snowball and trying to calm down. It was fell down, as the gravity had decided its fate.
Hearth’s Warming eve had not only come with snow, joy and miracles. These three were joined by other unwelcome “guests” - a giant workload, worries about the presents and even more sleepless nights.
“I will have to help the Cakes....yet again....how nice.” The mare shook off all the snow that had fallen on her. Flitter didn’t hate the married couple, it’s just that it meant more evenings standing outside the bakery, selling sweets to all the ponies who were on their way to their families, friends and lovers, saying such things as “Happy Hearth's Warming!” and “Have a great holiday!”, while she herself only had a dark bedroom to return to.
Taking a deep breath, the mare could literally smell the cold air as a freezing flow of coldness ran through her nose. Sometimes she just felt like giving up, going to that same bed and staying there for hours, doing nothing. That sounded like a promising endeavour.
Nothing......nothing anywhere......
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash, the pegasus Flitter often had to clean up after popped up. Her adventurous colleague barely had any time for work as she was often seen hanging out with Colgate. Now everypony knew that the mare was not only aiming to get into the Wonderbolts, there also was something else, in fact, her needs were a pyramid, consisting of several layers, love being one of them. All the ponies were wondering, how Rainbow was going to cope with it, especially, since Colgate was involved and it was not just about “oral” hygiene now, it was way beyond that. Many wanted to see the action.
“Hey! What’s up?”
“I have had better days,” Flitter said bluntly.
“Cheer up! Don’t be such a sour pony,” Rainbow advised.
“If only it was so simple.”
“Wanna talk about it?”
“It’s nothing important.”
“Doesn’t look like it,” she said, pointing out the obvious.
“....There is this....stallion...”
“Aaaah! You gotta love these stories,” the cyan mare got sincerely curious, “ do tell.”
“I met him one day....up here....”
“And?” Rainbow leaned forward to make sure she would catch every word of it.
Flitter blushed, remembering her unusual adventure.
“He was stuck....on a cloud so....I had to help him...”
“Hmmm....I guess that may happen,” the cyan mare concluded that it must have been a pegasus.
“...And...yes...we got down...that’s all.”
“Somepony is hiding something.” Now it was time to play the detective. There was always something more to discover - things between the lines, open to interpretation.
“He had this big....ummm....screwdriver....he put it out and....”
“Hah! Screwdriver?” Rainbow started rolling on the cloud, bursting into laughter. “Somepony has a “WILD” imagination! What does that even mean? Oooo! I know!”
Of course they both were thinking about the same thing. It was forbidden to speak about such stuff, while on weather duty.
“And then....there was the angling.”
“ANGLING?!!?” she couldn’t stop laughing, “such a nice way to put it! In and out of the pond! Am I right?”
“Yes, we went all the way down.”
Clearly Rainbow had some insight on how to measure the angle of a cloud below with a screwdriver. She even artfully noted that they were made out of water.
“Awwww!”
“Now that is all I can tell.”
“Well it is rather fast, but what is the problem exactly?”
“Er....actually....I already forgot...”
“See? It’s just so easy!” she got that great feeling of achievement.
“I know what I must do now. Rainbow, do you know where to find Doctor Whooves?”
“I don’t. Who is he?”
“A Time Turner.”
“Doesn’t ring any bells.”
“Great...what do I do now?” The next adventure didn’t seem like it was going to be any easier.
“You should go and see Pinkie Pie about this. She should know.”
“The mare from the Cake’s?”
“Yeah, that’s her.”
“If you say so. I don’t have any other ideas anyway.”
“Good luck with that,” Rainbow remembered something, ”whoopsie, I gotta fly somewhere....serious business. See ya!”
“Bye.”
And so, following her heart, the great quest to find a certain somepony had begun.
After her long work hours, Flitter managed to find some time to have a talk with Pinkie Pie. The bakery was already closed, some angel statues were decorating the entrance. “Ugh...this one is so old and somewhat disintegrated, why are they even here, where everypony can see them? Must be some type of new art or something. Those new artist fillies.....”
She knocked on the back door, hoping that there would be an answer. Pinkie Pie was well known for her late night partying. Usually returning after midnight, the mare was likely to still be awake at this hour. Anyway, Pinkie was the one to go to if you wanted to find somepony - she might not know everypony, but she has certainly partied with them all.
The locals believed that Pinkie was in the “cupcake” business, it being some band of ruffians, trying to reach the “New World Order” or something, cleansing everypony in the name of the almighty confectionery product, they were feared by many. Flitter figured that all the tales about seeing Pinkie Pie late at night with a knife in hoof, going to a shed, were probably just random rumors, not based on any trustworthy facts.
Soon after Flitter arrived, the pink mare appeared, wearing a white beard, orange night vision goggles and a classical party hat. A red balloon was floating above her, minding it’s own business.
“Howdy, partner!”
“H-Howdy....I don’t think that is the right way to greet ponies during the celebration.” Flitter didn’t want to get right to the point yet and also she didn’t want any mishaps in the Cake’s annual sale, especially since they were going to work the stand together.
Pinkie bobbed her head, “Arrrrr!.....Come in, matey.”
“That’s not it either,” said the guest, “you will scare away the younger ones.”
“What I am supposed to say then?” she asked, closing the door.
“Well, the salesponies mostly says things like,” Flitter considered it, “....Happy holidays....and....you know....like that.”
“OOOO! Fun! Fun!” her colleague’s cheer echoed in the room as she was bouncing up and down.
“The character you are portraying....Who that even is?”
“Aaah, that would be an old, kind man on the third day of...”
“It’s okay....I don’t really want to know that badly.....could you help me to find a certain somepony?”
Pinkie giggled “I haven’t done any pairings for suuuuuch a loooong time! Just let me get my crystal ball of fate’s destiny.”
“No, no I meant location, he seems to be working here in Ponyville,” Flitter corrected.
“That will be easy, what is his name?”
“Doctor Whooves.”
“Umm...I must have misheard you, could you repeat that?”
Pinkie was now literally breathing on her face, as she came much closer.
“The Doctor.”
“Who? That’s a profession,” for some reason Pinkie was completely serious.
“It can’t be! It must be a nickname,” Flitter tried to give her a lead.
The pink mare pulled out a notepad and a pencil, chewing and its end and looking at the latest entries.
“Uh.....could that possibly be a nickname which was given to this stallion just recently?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, we must get to the bottom of this.” Pinkie, now wearing a detective’s hat, which she had summoned seemingly from out of nowhere, was searching for something in a drawer, old pages, clips, straps, all falling to the ground, turning the room into a big mess.
“What are you looking for?.......I am sorry, I only have met him once and he isn’t the type to talk about himself...don’t try so hard just for me.”
“He must be a secret agent!”
“Huh?”
“My nemesis, coming to find me, are you?” Pinkie mumbled to herself as she put a steel crate wrapped in chains on her table. A loud thump could be heard as she let go of the crate.
“What in Celestia’s name is that?” Flitter hoped that it wouldn’t bite or breathe fire.
“Oh, nothing really, just a way, how to stay up-to-date,” Pinkie chuckled and it seemed that one of her pupils was bigger than the other one, at times darting in random directions as if somepony was secretly watching them.
Flitter shielded her face with a hoof.
Loud noises filled the room as Pinkie was bashing the crate on the table, a few wooden splinters detaching themselves from it, gliding everywhere.
It sounded like the dead had come back from the grave to feast on juicy ponies.
“BAM! BAM! BAM!”
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Flitter tried to thunder down the combined noise of rattling chains and steel being bashed on wood.
“BAM! BAM! BAM!”
“HELLO?”
“BAM! BAM! BAM!”
She gave up and found the courage to look at what was happening in the room.
“BAM! BAM! BAM!”
Pinkie continued the process until all the chains had come off, revealing a smooth, ice-cold Pandora box, fetched from the darkest depths of her drawer.
Pinkie laughed nervously “I don’t have the keys for this thing,” she finally spoke.
“WHY WOULD YOU WRAP IT UP IN ALL THOSE CHAINS THEN?”
“Security, obviously. They terrify everypony.”
“Why?....Never mind....just tell what have you hidden there.”
“This,” the pink mare said as she lifted an old register from the crate and blew away the dust, which soared up for a brief moment and then descended back on her table.
“And? What would that be?”
Instead of replying, her host opened the book. Many lines were rather blurry, maybe even dating back dozens of years.
Flitter saw entries with names, including addresses, contact numbers and...
“Hey! No peeking!”
“Yes, ma’am!” She backed away, scared of the somehow different Pinkie before her, hoping that it was safe to be here. Yet the smell, left from all the baked goods, somehow assured that she wouldn’t do anything bad to her. A place full of sweets was nothing to avoid in fear, as there certainly were more horrifying things to be found in Equestria, like bears or dragons.
“Now,” the pink mare calmed down, “this has never failed me before. What is his cutie mark?”
“An hourglass....it’s a promising lead....should be easy to recognize.”
“Yes....yes....there was something like that...I remember....” Pinkie said as she was skimming through the pages, maybe even jumping over too many of them.
“Can you find him then?”
“....Honestly, I don’t know....this particular cutie mark...it’s a paradox....”
“What do you mean?”
“I have seen several ponies with such a mark....yet I have never gotten their names.”
“And, why would that be weird?”
“Each pony has an unique cutie mark. It’s like our ID.”
“Are you sure?” Flitter’s eyes widened.
“Yes. They must have cloned him, that’s the only possible way!” thrusting out a conspiracy theory, Pinkie returned to the book, her eyes darting about, “Only I possess such knowledge. Has he found the lake? But these clones each are unique. That’s something else.....”
“.....Well...any luck finding him?”
“It’s not a question of yes or no.”
“......Ok.”
Her host seemed.....unusual. The mare gave Flitter the shivers, most certain to appear in her nightmares.....The fact that Pinkie had these two personalities only added to all the horror, but the mare had to stay strong. She had finally found a thing she wanted to do, and no matter the cost, she had to persevere.
“Aaaah! I remember!” her host jumped up in joy “The very last page! I grouped all 13 there.”
“What? There are that many of them?”
“Maybe even more!” she said, while going to the back of the register. The cover hit the hard surface of the table. “Impossible!” Pinkamena gasped as she opened the correct place in the book, “somepony has torn it out!” only a few remaining shreds decorated the edge of the cover.
“Erm...I guess....you won’t know then?”
“Excuse me?” her eyes glowed red. “DON”T BELITTLE ME! I KNOW EVERY PONY IN PONYVILLE!”
Flitter backed away, “if you don’t mind....I will be going now.”
“EVERY!.....PONY!.....IN PONYVILLE!” she went on, glaring with an unnerving stare.
“It was really nice meeting you, thanks for all the help,” Flitter said in a hurry to leave.
“THAT MUST BE IT! HE DOESN’T EXIST! YOU HEAR ME?”
“I do.” With that, the pegasus dashed out through the door.
The annual winter fair was filled with goods from all over Equestria - the famed Canterlot royal gingerbread, cookies from the best chefs of Manehatten, the kids favourite - chocolate fudge candy from Baltimare, confectionery in all colours of the rainbow from Fillydelphia and of course the local “Apple Pie Special”.
All the streets were illuminated by winter decorations, there was literally no place in Ponyville where one could not see all the joy the festivities brought. Despite all this, it looked like Flitter had just climbed out of the gloomiest, murkiest place in the world. In her hooves was a list of things she wanted to buy for the occasion.
The pegasus stared at the piece of paper, which only had one entry. “Errr....let’s see.....something edible,” she read. “Honestly, why do I even bother....”
Flitter approached a stand as she tumbled up her grocery list and rattled “I’ll have those, please!”
“Happy Hearth's Warming. How many tangerines do you want me to pack for you?” the salespony didn’t want to skip the courtesies, being in that holiday spirit.
“Oh....hmmm....one hundred.....no.....one hundred fifty ounces.”
“All right.” Although the salespony gave her an unsure glance, soon Flitter left with a bag full of “something edible”.
That was pretty much all the agenda for the day. She would come home, eat, brush her teeth and spend all night sleeping. Only work and....well...more work was awaiting her in the following days. The future was promising. Also starting next week Flitter had promised to take part time, helping the Cakes. The pegasus didn’t want to see Pinkie Pie after what had happened, but bits were bits and that was final. Making a living was essential.
Yet miracles do happen.
To her surprise, the time turner jumped out in front of her.
“Aaaah! Good! Look what we have here! Quick! There is another....thing.”
“You.....are......real,” was all she could say.
“That’s bollocks, of course I am real!”
“But.....” there were no arguments Flitter could think of.
“Ever heard of Santa Claus?”
“No.”
“Too bad, he is a good buddy of mine! Lives just a few clicks away.”
“Ummm?”
“Oh, yes! Why didn’t you say so!” the storm was brewing in the sea.
“What do you mean?”
“The thing!” he put both his hooves up in the air to express the seriousness of the situation. “There! Look!” the Doctor turned her head with his hooves.
“Twilight?”
Flitter noted that the purple mare was spending time on her passion - reading a book. The mare seemed completely oblivious to the world as she was just standing in one spot, most likely having forgotten, what she was doing in the first place.
“Now! Listen closely....”
“Okay?” the pegasus had no notion of what was about to happen.
“The fate of our universe depends on it! At least the one in the L14-M1 system! But this is huge anyway!”
“Eeeep!” she squeaked as a shiver went down her spine. It now seemed that they had moved to an adventure-filled sci-fi story to something that was going to be remembered throughout the history of Equestria.
“Somepony has been messing with the space and time continuum! A fixed point has been established, relaying it to thousands of other universes, consequently, this has created many cracks, allowing other beings to come through! We must close them! Or the Silence will fall!”
“So....what do we do?” Flitter imagined fighting an action-packed battle against other species from outer space, using “Super Sonic Screwdrivers” to blast away the baddies and shouting things like “For Equestria!” and “For friendship!”.
“The Amazingly Astonishing Flux Time and Vacuum Space Capacitor has looped endlessly! The logical cycle “for” is repeating itself over and over again, since the variable “i” has gone out of control!”
“Errrr.....what’s this “i” variable?”
“Oh, yea....forgot to mention....it’s an unsigned integer....hold on....no....it’s a floating number....”
“Right.....and...what does it do, again?”
“Errrr....” now the stallion had to think, “...counts things..plusplus...XOR...minusminus.....” he said in some unknown language, ”Did you know that “i” is usually an imaginary number?”
Flitter facehoofed. Apparently there was such a thing as imaginary numbers now. What had she gotten herself into? There was this crazy pony in front of her, explaining something ridiculous. He probably thought that there were floating imaginary numbers in the air. Excellent, do they shoot lasers too? She nervously glanced around to make sure nopony was watching them, a slight headache kicked in.
“I don’t know what you are talking about!” Flitter felt like she had to interject.
“But....I can’t handle that monstrous, multi-dimensional, dynamic array on my own! Please, I beg of you!”
The stallion was nuts - that was clear. Yet his feelings were honest, Flitter observed, how he had almost gone to tears. The time turner wasn’t joking - he really needed help with something. She decided to play along for now.
“Alright, but what is that you want of me?”
“To be blunt....Twilight is reading a book from another dimension : “The Great Shipping Romance” and you must stop her from reaching one certain part of it....she isn’t supposed to know yet. Not the part with Davenport. No way! It will ruin everything! Nopony likes spoilers!”
“What? Hold on. Why? Even if this did something, that is impossible.”
Ironically everything made a lot of sense.
“No time! Just trust me! Chop-chop!” saying that, the Doctor pointed her in the correct direction and trotted away.
Flitter looked, where he was headed, “Just great....he is leaving again....I see....he is talking to Twilight....But.....why should I go the other way?”
The mare checked the place she was instructed to go to. “Huh? Twilight is there too?” the surprised mare said, looking back at the Doctor to make sure.
There were two Twilights!
“This must be really serious then,” Flitter trotted to the one on the left.
The purple mare was not paying attention at all, while reading a book titled “The Great Shipping Romance” .
“Hello.”
“Hi!”
The scholar didn’t even look at her, passionately reading about romance in the middle of the walkway.
“That must be very interesting,” the pegasus had a plan.
“Yup!”
“What’s it about?”
“Contrary to the name, it’s not the history of Equestrian ships as I first thought. It’s quite captivating actually, young ponies finding their true love. ”
“Can I borrow it?”
Twilight looked at her, “Umm...you can’t. A registration in the library is needed....and besides....haven’t finished this yet.....I am very curious about one story here.”
“That’s okay....I guess.”
The unicorn didn’t move an inch and said nothing as she was attached to the reading material.
“Errr....I think your BBBFF is coming to visit today, isn’t he?” Flitter asked in an attempt to lure her away.
“No,” she sighed, “he is staying in the Crystal Empire for Hearth's Warming eve.”
“Ummm....nice weather we have here today!” that was the next most logical thing to say to keep up the conversation.
“Sure.”
“Can’t you give it to me for just one day? I’ll bring it back.”
“No.”
“Pinkie promise?”
“No.”
“Come on.......I’ll give you some tangerines” a diplomatic approach.
“Still - no.”
“Agh!”
Flitter backed away, absolutely defeated.
“Excellent....I can’t do anything properly, can I? Is there no way to help him? Well at least I postponed the inevitable.” The pegasus felt like a wave, formed with great ideals in mind, yet ultimately crushed beneath a cliff, never letting her get out of the ocean. “Hold on.....where is the time turner?” both he and the other Twilight had gone, “just my day.” She looked down in sorrow.
There was snow on the ground. Flitter picked it up and rolled the frozen water in her hooves, there was only one thing left to do. She let it fly.
Swoooosh!
“Hey!” Twilight expressed her feelings, “don’t hit my....” another wet blast found her, parts of it stubbornly sticking to the face ”.....my....book...” she spat out the bits in her mouth and knocked down the rest.
“That’s it!”
The mare closed the book and returned fire. Unluckily if you spend hours staring at one point in a page it will greatly affect your aiming precision......so the ball drifted away and hit Applejack, who was sitting in the Apple family stand, instead.
“Ahem’!”
The orange mare was bored anyway, so she lifted the cover and came out to play.
“Take that!” another snow ball was heading straight for Twilight.
She used her magic to dodge so it landed a few metres away.
“Hey! That’s cheatin’!” Applejack protested.
“Yea! Play fairly!” the pegasus added.
“Huh? Look who’s talking!” Twilight pointed out that they were currently fighting 2 vs 1 and her two new-found enemies where the cunning ones.
This dispute gave Flitter an idea.
“Uh-oh! You broke a Pinkie promise!”
“What are you saying? I don’t....” Twilight was puzzled.
“NOPONY BREAKS A PINKIE PROMISE!” Red-eyed Pinkamena, steam rolling out of her ears was thundering towards the three. Twilight let go of her book and took a few steps back, being pelted with snowballs from three sides, “They are lying! Listen to me!” she dodged one of the oncoming projectiles, “why are you doing this?”
A new war front was dangerously coming closer.
“Cheater!” Flitter teased her.
“You all know....” avoiding another one, Twilight got hit by one from the opposite direction, “I didn’t start this! Stop it!” the mare looked straight at what seemed like a pink ball of fury flying towards her, “.....huh?”
Splosh!
Cake frosting was dripping from her mane as Pinkie had decided to use her heaviest of weapons.
“I can’t take this!” Twilight teleported away to retreat to a safer distance.
“Yipeee! We did it!” the pink mare cheered.
“Yes....we did...” Flitter picked up the book that Twilight had left, which had been her goal all along.
They had won the battle, but not the war.
“Happy Hearth's Warming.....Come again,” said Pinkie without much energy, quite bored.
“Heh, even she can’t handle such repetitiveness” Flitter thought to herself.
It was eleven at night, and both the mares were still working in the Cake stand. Luckily, no incidents had happened. Pinkie was calm and collected most of the time, selling all the pastries with a smile. That one time she had questioned what one of the customers was hiding under her hat, but it was nothing too serious. On the other hoof, Flitter was quite bored with all of it, but she didn’t let it show, keeping in line.
Working the stand was a rather good thing to do, apart from all the bits received, one could always boast to everypony, how it is to survive the Hearth’s Warming Eve out in the cold. For some it was a great adventure. Yet Flitter had had many of them so she wasn’t even a bit excited. Overall, things could have turned out better. She might have just stayed home, but that wasn’t very entertaining. Also travelling somewhere was out of the question, nopony would let her take a holiday and her relatives....well.....they lived far away.
Seeing that nopony else was going to come soon, the pegasus said, ”I wanted to ask you something.”
“What is it?” Pinkie sighed as both her eyelids were slowly dropping down.
“It’s about Doctor Whooves, why were you so angry?” she took a great risk by asking.
“Wouldn’t you? Somepony has been going through my things,” the answer was surprisingly logical.
“I kind of thought you were obsessed with knowing everypony?”
“You are being silly, why do you think so?”
“Umm...you have that register.”
“Oh, that!” Pinkie giggled, “it’s where we put down all the delivery orders from all the ponies. I was just trying to remember, where I had met him before.”
“That still doesn’t explain the entries about the cutie marks.”
“As I said before, ID’s are needed to make the delivery.”
“Oh!” Flitter burst out into laughter as she watched the night sky.
A shooting star was visible on the horizon.
“We are done for the day,” Pinkie announced, “pack you things and go. Have fun.”
“You too.”
The pink mare took a crate and went inside the Sugarcube Corner.
Flitter lowered her head, trying to find her bag in the darkness.
“Aaah! Late for the party again, am I?” a stallion’s voice said.
“How may I help you?” She looked at him. It was the Doctor!
“I can’t lie to myself - I had to visit,” he explained.
“I thought that was the end, when you left me.”
Flitter got that feeling of loneliness off her chest. The timer turner had finally come to get her! The dream had come true.
“Oh, I hate endings” the Doctor was looking directly into her eyes, “that’s why I always tear out the last page from every book I read.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I have a little make up gift for you. For all the things I have done.”
“Don’t worry about it, they were fun.”
“That’s what I thought.”
A pink scarf was in his hooves. It was simple, with little charm, Rarity might have thrown it away, but it was very special.
“Thank you!”
Flitter was already reaching for it, but the Doctor dodged her grasp.
“There is this thing with scarfs. You see, it is me who has to put it on you.”
“Oh.....”
His hooves wrapped around her neck, twisting the scarf masterfully.
“The nights don’t have to be cold” he whispered in her ear, his hooves busy on her mane.
“Let....me....”
The Doctor hushed her.
“In this endless universe, I have found something unique, one cannot ask for more,” the time turner said circling her neck, holding the scarf, not wanting to stop.
“Please, don’t let go!”
Flitter turned it into a passionate hug, not letting his hooves finish tying the scarf. The Doctor paused for a second, but soon returned her feelings.
Their crests joined together in harmony, forming one unmistakable shape. Time stopped as they both looked over in two opposite directions, snow falling towards the ground, there was nothing else as darkness stretched infinitely outwards. Yet the core of it was an erupting volcano, spreading what little, precious warmness there was in the world of cold.
One feeling could never leave the Doctor, remembering his past battles, he knew that each flame was to be extinguished sooner or later, be it sand, earth, snow or space, surrounding them. Yet, pulling himself together, he continued, “The time has come!” a blue box was standing just behind the corner, having a “bad” secret of its own, ”may I invite you in?”
“Well....that’s kind of small...but I don’t mind...”
“Don’t worry, it gets bigger on the inside!”
Flitter blushed, wondering what was going to happen next.
Two ponies entered the box. As the door closed it gradually became transparent and disappeared, leaving no trace, the spaceship had gone to its next destination.
The End
Infinity may separate us, but I will find you, my one and only.
